The Runaway Stole my Heart
by Apollo's Little Angel
Summary: Aphrodite tells the tale of Connor Stoll finding his perfect match, Cassidy, daughter of Athena. Polar opposites came together, "like perfect chemistry".
1. Chapter 1

**Hey! So I was trying to write one thing, but this was what emerged—something totally different and unexpected. Hope you like! :D**

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Aphrodite sighed, happy with the work she'd done. Playing matchmaker was not easy, but it paid off. Just look at Percy and Annabeth, or, as she preferred to refer to them as (much to Athena and Poseidon's discomfort) Percabeth. Another great example is Connor Stoll and his girlfriend, Cassidy. The goddess smiled at the memory of the two awkward teenagers. It was literally love at first sight. Not many couples could pull it off, but they did.

Northwood Boarding School was the best school in Kentucky. Connor Stoll didn't think he'd fit in. But, the "troubled kid" excelled fairly well—a "C" average that goes up to a "B" average around the end of each semester. He was tall and skinny, with a mass of curly hair, the color of rich brownies. He had blue eyes, but his hair usually flopped in front of his face, so you won't know the difference. He looked like an evil elf on a coffee addiction—upturned eyebrows, a sarcastic smile, and an amused glint in his eye that most teachers grew to fear. He was slightly shorter than his older brother, Travis, which was how most people told them apart. But, between the two, Connor was the more responsible one.

Cassidy was enrolled in Northwood because she was intelligent and smart. She got As and Bs and was the top of her class. She was medium height and always though she was slightly overweight and not pretty enough, which in its own way, added to her shy nature and beauty. Her light blonde hair was almost always pinned in a messy bun, perfect for impromptu reading sessions, revealing her sterling grey eyes. She was shy, but once you got to know her, she'd shed her exterior and expose her quirkiness and insanity—face it, every genius has always been slightly crazy.

They were nothing alike, Aphrodite knew from day one, but their tales were woven together by the fates. All she did was push them in the right direction. That's not to say the direction was straight—it was most definitely anything but—however, it was the direction they needed to go.

Love, after all, is a fickle friend.


	2. Chapter 2

**CASSIDY**

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On the first day of school, I was lost and alone. The only real comfort I had was knowing that I had Latin. Walking into that class, I smiled, thinking back to the conversation I had with my dad the day I chose my classes.

_Your mother knew Latin,_ Dad said softly, stroking my hair. He hardly ever talked about Mom, but when he did, I felt compelled to be as much like her as I could. That's how I ended up in advanced Latin my freshman year. I took my seat towards the back, trying to avoid as many people as possible. I didn't want to be surrounded by people—distractions of any sort, really. My plan would have worked out perfectly, had the boy not sat next to me.

He looked like trouble. You could literally see it in his eyes, that you could hardly see under his mess of hair. He smirked like he'd just done something, like fill the teacher's desk with rodents, and was proud of it. Thankfully, Mr. Webber did not have that problem, but still… I must have been starring at him, because the boy nodded his head in acknowledgement. _Who does that anymore_? I thought. I back-tracked, realizing that I was being a prick for no reason. I turned my attention back to the teacher, who was talking about the alphabet, trying to not remember middle school.

It was hard to hold back the tears.

Aside from the slip-up in Latin, I thought the day was going very well. This is, until lunch. Most of the tables were already full and I knew no one. If I sat at the wrong table, I could be socially wrecked. Not that that's new, but I did want to make an effort to have less problems this year. If only...

"Going to sit down, or just watch the people eat?"

I turned around to see the boy from Latin in front of me, an eyebrow raised. Instantly, I went into defense mode. "Who's asking?"

"The guy you're currently blocking from eating his lunch," he shot back with as much fire as I did.

My face burned bright red. Was it because he's embarrassed me? Stood up to me? Acted like he was superior? _Probably all that, plus you being a bitch_, I thought. "I'm sorry," I said, moving to the side, letting him through the line.

"Hey. Come sit with me."

"Excuse me?"

"You have nowhere else to sit, so come with me."

I sighed. I had no other alternatives, so I followed the strange boy silently. Once we sat down, we ate in awkward silence.

"My name is Connor, by the way," he said, breaking the ice.

"Cassidy Shay." I found myself smiling. It was nice to have the chance to talk to someone.

Not too long after that, another boy who looked a lot like Connor sat down with a mutual friend of their's.

"This is my brother, Travis," Connor said, punching his almost-look-alike on the shoulder. "And our friend, Jonas."

When it was time to go to our next class, Travis pulled me aside. "Hey. You don't talk much, do you?" If he was waiting for a reply, he didn't get one. "So... If you ever need a friend, or help, or something, my brother and I will be there. Just so you know..."

I nodded my head in agreement, but wasn't really listening to what he was saying.

And that was that. I made my "lunch buddies", for lack of a better word and knew a few faces around school. Not that I'd actually hang out with them. No way. I didn't have any room in my life for friends.


	3. Chapter 3

**CONNOR**

It took a long time to convince Chiron to let Travis and me to go to school, but he agreed if we had a satyr watching us. We wouldn't want someone to lose all their money on the first day of school, now would we? No, we certainly would not.

So when HorseMan found Jonas Greene, "a good-natured" satyr, my brother and I were set. Going back to Kentucky was going to be great. When the camp found out, though, they were surprised by two things: one, that we were going to school in Kentucky, two, that we were going to Kentucky. They said we didn't sound "country enough". They're all so stupid. It was my idea to even go to school to begin with. Travis and I were supposed to be juniors, but we never even went to high school. When we came to camp when we were ten, we never looked back. But then I started to see my stepbrothers, stepsisters, and unclaimed kids in Cabin Eleven talking about their school and the colleges they want to go into and what they want to do with their lives, if it wasn't too dangerous for them to leave camp again. It hit something inside me. So there we were—in a boarding school for smart kids.

_Chiron thought my brother and I were smart_, was my first thought to seeing the schedule he made for us—all honors courses.

Anyway, I was doing fine—I made all my teachers think I was a good student and build up a reputation of being a fine student, then turn around and mess everything up with toilet paper. Call it an investment. But then came Latin class.

I always liked sitting in the back, where no one can see me light a fire, or steal something that caught my interest, or money someone dropped, and no one would see me. Apparently, I wasn't the only one, because this girl was tucked tight into the corner, glaring at me, like I'd just filled the girls' bathroom with party glitter. I mean, c'mon, that was the guys' bathroom. Anyway, I thought she must have not gotten much sleep the night before and bushed it over my shoulder. I just nodded my head 'hey', and zoned out for the next hour and thirty minutes.

I didn't think twice about the girl until lunch. I'd just gotten my taco-like substance from the lunch lady, who looked strangely like a dude, when the door leading to the lunch room was blocked by a familiar face, er, familiar _back_.

"Going to sit down, or just watch the people eat?" I said, somewhat playfully. Maybe she was in a better mood.

She turned around and raised an eyebrow, frowning ever so slightly, like I was a problem to be dealt with. "Who's asking?" She asked.

_Is she a total jerk all the time?_ I wondered. "The guy you're currently blocking from eating his lunch," I shot back with as much sass as she gave me.

Her face turned red and twisted into a face I recognized—disappointment. She said, "I'm sorry," head down, and moved away from the line. I took a second to really take her in—short blonde hair, eyes the color of steel, kinda short and thin and pale. She was wearing a white tank top, with a brown cardigan over it, matched with light jeans, and ratty old sneakers. She looked too young to be anything but a freshman. _Fresh meat._ Like at camp. She was just an aggressively shy person. I dealt with a lot of new-comers at camp like her.

"Hey. Come sit with me," I said, trying to break the barrier between us.

"Excuse me?"

"You have nowhere else to sit, so come with me."

She followed me just as I was about to leave, but said nothing more. Once we sat down at the table, I thought maybe she'd want to talk a little more, but she just poked at her taco, like it was an explosive, which, in all honestly, could be used as one. After giving her what felt like ten or fifteen minutes, I decided it was time to say something.

"My name is Connor, by the way."

"Cassidy Shay." She smiled, like she was happy I'd spoken up_. She must not get out much._

We somehow managed to make a little small talk before Travis and Jonas sat down next to me. Cassidy eyed them suspiciously.

This my brother, Travis," I said, punching his almost-look-alike on the shoulder. "And our friend, Jonas."

When it was time to go to our next class, Travis pulled her aside. I didn't hear what they were saying, but Travis gave me a look that told me he'd tell me later. I nodded my head slightly, rushing to my next horror, geometry. Yay me.


End file.
